UNEXPECTED SUMMER DAYS

 Last night I could see the stars again!  We had a cool wind blow through from the east and the smoke has cleared.  So wonderful to see the stars at night and our deep blue sky all day.  We have just this short break then the smoke is supposed to get to dangerous levels by the weekend.

In my last post - sorry for the dark mood - I failed to mention some nice things that have happened this summer.  I keep hearing how disappointed people are about all the summer festivals and events being cancelled.  But here in NV we have had some things opened back up for a while.  With strict guidelines restaurants (not bars) and most other businesses are open.  You can't try on clothes or sit at a bar and masks are required everywhere.  The good thing is that people here, for the most part, are following the rules.  

There are those stupid, selfish people out there pulling their mask down once inside - my DIL has had confrontations with them.  She is an oncology nurse and has already been exposed twice and had to quarantine and be tested.

My sister who calls herself walking co-morbidity was threatened by a man with a gun in the Spokane Washington Costco when she asked him not to stand so close since he wasn't wearing his mask.  She has barely gone out at all in 6 months and that is why.

Anyway - for those of us being vary careful but wanting some bits and pieces of normal life - Reno is doing okay. Week to week I stick to the same 3 or 4 shopping and walking locations and resist spreading my outings into too many uncharted spaces.  I did go to a craft store when I completed a needlepoint and wanted to finish it as a pillow.  I also went to Home Depot and a local nursery a number of times.  

But when the "Women of a Certain Age" social group I had joined right before the shut down resumed some activities, I jumped right in.  We keep outings to 6 people and stick to the same places that have hosted us for years.  We are known and therefore well looked after.  This group has had a lot to do with saving my sanity the last couple of months.  I made sure to exchange phone numbers with a couple of the people I felt might become friends and have gone on walks and even to a museum! 

The biggest, risk I have taken this summer was two trips to Idaho.  The first time I drove to visit my elderly parents.  They were going stir crazy in their tiny apartment in a seniors community and wanted a brief getaway.  They had reservations at a condo in a small resort town so I took them there for 3 days.  They don't get around very easily, so we mostly ate in and drove around looking at the sights from the car.  People there were great about mask wearing so our 2 ventures to eat out felt safe.  We all quarantined before and after the trip - and made it through safely.

Then my sister up in northern Idaho invited me to visit - mountains, lake view,

boat and keeping company with my sister was just what I had hoped summers might be like in retirement. I agonized over how to get there - drive alone for 2 days each way, staying in motels and getting food on the road?  Or fly there and back?  Every single flight included plane changes - so in and out of multiple airports on planes with people from all over?   The worst part was most flights are routed through Las Vegas which is the Nevada cesspool of Corona. My sister easily agreed to get up at 3 am to get me to the airport for my return flight via Oakland.

I wore goggles and wiped everything in reach, wore my best mask, kept my distance from others, stayed in well ventilated areas and didn't purchase food during my layovers. I kept the overhead fan on and took a window seat - all per recommendations from medical experts.  It went fine - had a really nice visit, took walks, went out on the boat one day, hung around the house learning mah jong, started a mosaic tabletop, and talked and talked.  I know there are a lot of people being very judgy about others taking "unessential" trips.  Part of me agrees - on the other hand, we still have to live our lives and make the best decisions for our mental and physical health.  

Next year I hope to be invited back, make a real road trip if the drive, bring my bike and be able to treat my hosts to a nice dinner out.  Here's to a great summer of 2021!

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  NOW the Democratic caucus decides to, as the vernacular goes, GROW A PAIR???  They had two years, a forward looking President, the backing of the American public and they couldn't get off their thumbs long enough to keep the promises made to roll back tax breaks for the richest 10% of the country.  But now that the President has been shamed and bullied and has come up with a compromise which will allow the jobless benefits to be extended...NOW they stand up and say no tax cuts for the wealthy?  Really?

2.)  Got all dressed up Thursday and went down to the hotel for the employee holiday lunch...except they had postponed it until December 22.  The peril of working only 2 days a week is being left out of the loop...that and a wee small paycheck.

So - all dressed up an nowhere to go?  I went to the mall.  I usually avoid the mall in December but I headed for one store only with a mission in mind.  Me.  I splurged and bought myself some cute tops suitable for holiday festivities.

3.)  I have the house decorated and now I am working on my photos for the Holiday Home Tour hosted by Jen on the Edge.  Come visit next Friday to see homes all over the country all dressed up for the holidays!  If you are still looking for inspiration she has linked last year's tour.  If you want to join in, sign up by December 13.


I don't really get the angle - but the background tells the story!





4.)  Maggie had a wonderful time on her trip to France with her boyfriend and his parents.  She was not able to do all the things she would have liked since the trip was planned around fine dining and wine tasting - not that she didn't enjoy those things!  She is just ready to go back to see more sights and museums and do the shopping she didn't get to do.  I volunteered to be her travel companion!

5.)  Since Maggie took time off from her job - she will not be able to come home for the holidays this year.  I am actually feeling okay about it,  I am more worried that she won't have a nice holiday than I am about missing her. 

But Ally is having a hard time.  When I hung the stockings and Maggie's was not there she was very upset and wanted me to hang it - but she understood when I said I was filling it and mailing it to Maggie.  It has always been her favorite part of the gifts - the little goodies in the stocking.  So I wouldn't think of making her go without!  Now if I could figure out how to ship Monkey bread so it was hot and gooey on Christmas morning I would feel a lot better about things...



FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  Have you seen the story about the man who is suing the family of the boy he killed?  The 14 year-old  boy was riding his bike on a busy street with a 45 mile speed limit and was not wearing a bike helmet.  The man was driving his car at a speed of 83 miles an hour.  He was convicted of manslaughter and is currently serving 10 years in prison.  He is suing the parents for $15,000 for causing him "great mental and emotional pain and suffering" and inhibiting his "capacity to carry on in life's activities." 

I think it is pretty clear that a bike helmet would have done very little to save the life of this child and I hope that the family does not have to spend very much in attorney fees before a judge tosses this case out as a frivolous waste of the court's time and for the additional pain it puts on those parents.

2.)  The more attention we focus on the TSA touching or looking at our "junk" the less is focused on the fact that it doesn't make us any safer in the first place if they are not doing more to check the luggage and freight going into the hold of the plane.  We are a country of 6th graders when it comes to this stuff. Completely focused on our junk and oblivious to what could really be a problem.


So little media time and attention was given to the actual bombs in the computer printers that could have brought down planes in comparison to showing these titillating pictures of  body scans and people being patted down at the airport.  On the other hand...maybe when people get fed up with stripping down and getting felt up, they will get wise and demand that the TSA get busy  looking at the freight and baggage as carefully - than we will really be safer in the air.

3.)  Ally was accepted to San Francisco State University.  She is thrilled.  It was her first choice.  She is shopping for her sweatshirt and window sticker.  We are all very proud of her because her test scores surely helped with the early acceptance.

4. )  I managed to score a very part time job at a lovely little boutique hotel in our lovely little downtown.  Just working 2 evenings a week at the front desk.  It may work into something full time and it may not.  At least it gives me some new and more recent experience (heaven knows I can't use the last place!) and some income.

Something else new to try.  I'm looking forward to it!